minutes i can take any questions. i never want to leave without hearing it from me. ok, jocelyn, they are all happy. thank you. [applause] >> our board of supervisors is very important to us. they make laws that we have to follow. it gives me great pleasure to introduce the president of the board of supervisors, david chiu. [applause] >> good afternoon. first, if any of you have ever wondered what an ls -- and

elected officials sounds like with anesthesia and his mouth, i want to let you know that i got out of a dental chair 20 minutes ago after a few hours of dentists work. but i wanted to give a few remarks of how i think we are doing. i'm very much more are optimistic about how we're doing than four years ago. i read an article from the chronicle and it said that the candidates disagreed on everything, except for the need to crack down on entertainment violence. i did not propose anything for the first six months until there

were half a dozen people affected. that was followed by a terrific shooting, which was then followed by an incident in union square. i want to take a moment and thank the san francisco police department for your input. if we pass legislation to require additional security requirements and plans. we pass legislation to give the entertainment commission more tools to shut down those handful of clubs that have often given a bad name to the rest of the industry. we passed legislation to pass for the first time a party registry. and we pass legislation to

ensure a minimum level of security. all of that being said, the great news is today for that for whatever reason, in part because of good legislation and part because of good law enforcement and in part because of the good work that you all are doing, it is much improved. i know lager get woken up on sunday mornings by tv reporters asking me to comment on the latest shooting. we have an opportunity to ensure that san francisco has the greatest and most vibrant nightlife of any major city in the country. i want to thank my colleague scott wiener for helping to showcase the importance of the other nine to five economy. the impact of all that you do has an impact on our job situation and local economy, and to highlight all of the great work that we can do together to ensure that the sectors that you

all represent, the sectors that you work for, that you employ people for connaught is one of the greatest sectors in san francisco. i hope we will take the opportunity of the america's cup to showcase our clubs, our restaurants, our nightlife events. as someone who represents the broadaway neighborhood, an area of town that i used to spend a lot of time in when i was in my 20's -- but actually, very few locals take the time to head to the beach on broadway. our neighborhoods are coming together to say that broadway is open to the rest of the world as

well as san francisco. i want to put san francisco back on the map when it comes to music. to make sure that we have the type of entertainment that we used to be renowned for. and those of you that work in our bars and clubs, i want to make sure that we are trading the kind of destinations that we look forward to spending time with you. i know on behalf of my colleagues, we look forward to working with you in a very positive partnership to move all of our communities forward. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, president chiu. earlier this year, and economic impact study was published.

it said that entertainment without daytime events has an economic impact of four $0.2 billion on san francisco. the person that portion that study tour was supervisor scott wiener. i would like to welcome him to our states. [applause] >> i like what supervisor chiu said i will have to put you under anesthesia more often, i think. [laughter] thank you for allowing me to be here to give my perspective around entertainment. we all intuitively know the cultural benefit of not life on our city without entertaining and night life, it would be a

completely different city. a lot of us might not like it as much. if you do not have that community building, that tool does not exist anymore. it is not just about that. it is about keeping this city diverse, and having young people that actually want to come here. i cannot tell you how many times i walk home up market street and see a line of young people waiting to get in to hear live music. even though i am an old fuddy- duddy now and i do not stay out as late as i used to, it is important to me to know that

young people have things to do today. audrey asked the economic question of me almost immediately after taking office. it benefits us the truth about $55 million in tax revenue. nightlife is the only significant industry in this city that sometimes gets treated at times as it is a nuisance, a problem to be managed. and of course, we have to focus on making sure it is safe and that people are complying with the laws and that we are not having shooting. but when you get so focused on combating the negatives -- every industry has the negatives. you can sometimes lose sight of the positives and we know there are a huge positives for

nightlife in the city. we know that a lot of our street shares are at risk -- street fairs are at risk of being given fees to death. we have completely outdated the planning commission like that mission how are used district, which makes it extremely hard to do anything alcohol related in a big swath of the mission. there was a bowling alley that wanted to go in at 17th and van ness and they were not going to

be able to do it because they would have been banned from even selling beer. that is the tip of the iceberg in terms of planning provisions that make it hard to foster a knife in the city. we are not always consistent with how we deal with liquor licenses. they can vary in different parts of the city. i know the chief is working hard to establish more consistency. i just want to say that the chief of police is probably the most pro-nightlife chief of police we have ever had. i think he understands it on a personal level. i appreciate that. until recently, we did not have anyone at our office of economic and workforce development that actually focus is on night life as industry. and of course, as you know, our transportation system does not support not live that well. we do not have nearly enough

cabs so that people coming out and get along without drunk driving. bart -- bars to not stay open late enough. i do think things are changing at city hall and with city government generally. in the last budget process, we read able to get a full-time person in the office of economic and workforce development who will focus exclusively on nightlife and entertainment. that is a huge step with the positives of the industry. i would have worked very closely with supervisor chiu to get a budget for the entertainment commission. at times, the entertainment commission has been set up to fail because we expect all sorts of enforcement and make sure that people are cracking down on the rules, but we have not committed the resources necessary to do so. we are slowly doing that to make sure that they can meet their mission.

and the of all special use district that i mentioned before, i think we lost -- we will finally start seeing some reform there. we have a lot more work to do. i recently asked the economist to supplement the impact study for the night live with a similar study for outdoor fairs and festivals, which we know contribute mightily to our economy. i'm very committed to seeing the planning department put together an entertainment element of the planning code, so that we can understand and keep in mind that we do not do things, for example -- adopt the western some of plan that will put too much housing on the street. housing always beats nightlife. it always does. we have a plan for that.

we need to rationalize our fees and scott street closers system, which is not serving the city, in my view. we need to repeal the archaic codes that undermine nightlife. and we need to continue to support our great state senator mark leno in its never-ending quest for a call at that locality. [applause] but we have to also keep in mind that this industry needs to be more and more organized in order to have the political organization as one supervisor, or two supervisors, there is

only so much you can do. please come and get more organized. my colleagues, david and my colleagues need to hear from you. build an alliance with the business community. one of the biggest champions is that california chamber of commerce. we know it is good for business. and please, organized with the neighborhood bars. there are so many great neighborhood bars in this city that could add that neighborhood element to political organizing. and when you are a district supervisor, it is one thing to have nightclub owners come to you. it is another thing to have neighborhood business owners like bar owners coming to you. we need to organize as a bar owner and that will move us in a positive direction.

i am optimistic about the future of night life in this city. i think we have turned a corner. there's a broader and broader consensus that this matters for the broader culture of san francisco. thank you. [applause] for many years, the entertainment commission -- >> for many years, the entertainment commission, which has been under the auspices of the city was guided by ed lee. he is now the mayor san francisco. he was going to be here today, but was called away. but he sent paul anderson to deliver a message. [applause] >> not ed lee.

but i play him from time to time. the mayor wanted me to appear today and he wanted me to welcome all of you to discuss these very important issues. obviously, with the amount of influence and impact that nightlife has on san francisco, that is obviously very important to the city, and to the mayor directly. it is so closely tied to what makes san francisco such a beautiful city, and so closely site -- tied to what makes san francisco -- what makes people want to come to san francisco and live in this city. it is important to what we do and many of the businesses that exist here on an ongoing basis. we have 16 million visitors a year. that is in no small part due to the activities associated with the night life and this city. that is not lost on all of us.

one of the things that i think it's important to the mayor and myself as i sit here today, and i know that you guys are going to be focusing on, i looked out and i see so many pieces of the city family here engaged in this conversation. i think it is really a measurable thing that you have the chief of police introducing today's conversation and today's forum with you in addition to having the board of supervisors as civil the understand the work that you and why it is so important. having individuals like -- one of the board members spoke earlier about having oewd focusing on this. all this matters when you're trying to work collaborative late. part of the problem in the past has been people working in

individual silos and not sharing information and focusing collectively on what we are trying to get done. we want to grow the numbers. we want and i like to understand it -- to understand. i think it is great that so many people are here, that we have invigorated leadership from the and bigger -- the entertainment commission and the work that king is doing. i looked out in the audience and i see alcohol and beverage control here. all of the players are at the table in order to move the ball forward. i am encouraged, and the mayor personally wanted to welcome all of you here, and hope that the work continues to get done so that we could continue to make san francisco the premier city that people want to come to to visit, to shop, to spend money,

to eat, and to be entertained. he wanted me to personally mention that he enjoys all of the activities associated particularly with food and music. lots more food and music, because those are the things that he likes to see in the city and that he sends his friends out to when they visit him as well. thank you all for the work that you are doing. i am confident that we are engaged in the right type of work by having the meeting that you are having here today. i know the mayor wants to follow this closely, and we are following this closely to make sure that if there is more that we can be doing as a city, then we can get it-and we are out -- we can get it done because we are working together. thank you very much and we look forward to working with you as a city and i will look for you at the events. thank you.

[applause] >> thanks, paul. what is music and food without libations? i mean, what are we if we are not serving alcohol? i know some of us had issues with our abc licenses and some of us do not. i will bring to the stage the director of the california state of all beverage control, who has agreed to take a couple of questions after its presentation. if any of you have questions for the abc, you can come to the microphone down at the end of the aisle. keep your questions short and concise. please welcome jacob out cosmit from california alcohol and beverage control. [applause] >> thank you for having me here today. it is a real honor. i was born and raised in berkeley. a big moment in my life was taking the transit over to san

francisco for my first show, which was the specials. when i was a young, poor person in san francisco, which most young people in san francisco at least at that time were poor, just because of the cost of living here. i used to go to all of the clubs and places. my dream was to when they appear on stage at one of them. the closest i ever came was to putting my name on the open mike list at the old -- the open market from its at the elvis crossed. [laughter] i did not make it. now i have become a bureaucratic the city of sacramento, which seems like a pretty glorious way to go. but i have met some pretty fantastic people through that. i'm eager to work with you on all of the issues that you have. there's a great staff that operates the office in san

francisco. they resolve most of the problems that we could possibly face. there have been a couple that people live come -- have asked me to come down and meet with them on. i am more than happy to do that when there is something that we cannot resolve at the local level. san francisco is a place that we are very proud of. we got kicked out of our office, just by the landlord and the release. there is a lot of political pressure on us just to keep the political office closed. as most of my staff will tell you, there was really one person who thought it was the perfect idea to stay in san francisco and pay the market rent, and that was me. maybe state bureaucrats did not like that some much, but at least one of them did, and that was me. we are delighted to be in san francisco. it is important for us to be on

the ground. we have 25 offices around the state. because of groups like this and how supportive you are and how hard we try to work with our license fees and the public, despite all of the challenges you would expect, san francisco is one of the few places where calls come up to my level. i have all sorts of things that are -- that seem very, very challenging all the time, all over the place. you guys are about the least i hear of, and that is a great thing. i want to thank you for cooperating with my office.

anytime you want me to come down here and talk with you, happy to do that. with that, i'm happy to take any questions. >> i may permit consultant in the city. i want to thank you for coming to this because it shows that you really care. i want to ask you a question. some of then transfers for an eatery that serves beer and wine to patrons, when someone wants to transfer or someone else wants to buy the license, if it says on there now live music or no entertainment, and the new person that -- no live music or no entertainment, and

the new person that purchases it, they want to modify the conditions. they realize if a petition to modify the conditions, they run the risk of maybe not having the license transfer to them should the modifications be declined. some of these laws on the books a little archaic, and i will give you an example. we now have live entertainment in san francisco, which allows amplified music until 10:00 p.m. if the conditions has no entertainment, and the entertainment, it also includes this limited live provision. we have determined in the city that this legislation is good -- good legislation. there's no conditional use requirement to have this. a lot of people today want to have food, drink, and be able to have some music. how can we get the limited live

entertainment excluded from the know amplified or no live entertainment excluded on the transfers? >> that is going to mostly driven locally. most of the conditions you'll ever see on an abc license are because we rely, to a great extent, on the police department and local officials to determine what is best for their communities. i'm not trying to pin this on you guys or blame you guys, but we do try to work with you. we do not tend to want to overrule the police department very often. now that said, i get a fair number of petitions and appeals to me. typically, they are from the neighbors. i want to see that there is actually a practical problem posed -- that the condition is there to solve, not that this is

the way the things have been or maybe there's someone who is satisfied by what is potentially wrought by having live entertainment. it is always a case by case. generally, very deferential -- i am very deferential to the removal of conditions that do not appear to be solving any problems, and by removing them we are narghile posing any problems that we cannot then thereafter solved. >> director apple smith, thank you for coming. i represent about 30 or 40 entertainment venues in san francisco, new york, and moscow is. i have a technical question about county transfers. -- and lost vegas. i have a technical question about county transfers. right now, there are very few buildings that you can lease in

san francisco anymore. this town has gone nuts in the last five or six months. there are no liquor licenses to purchase. i have strong connections with the liquor licenses on line and some of these people. i am sorry that the top of the list. i have 48 license requests that i cannot fail. i have a two-star michelin restaurant that is moving from downtown out into the mission that the only thing i can do is throw a quick 41 on the place because we can -- because i cannot find a 47 or 848 to do it. i would like you -- or a 48 to do it. i would like to think about some injured county transfers. -- enter-county transfers. there are a lot of restaurants that have a million dollar construction costs and cannot find a license and are freaking out. licensing has gone to about

128,000 this month. we assume they will surely go to 150,000 and probably more. we need some more liquor licenses. >> to that, in part, i would say that is a structural problem, and largely driven by our statutes. this governor is very pro- expansion of business. and in favor of things that make this city and state great. there is mileage from your local representatives on this. the governor is going to be supportive of whenever you want to do in the city of san francisco. -- what ever you want to do in the city of san francisco. >> i own a corner bar and i'm basically in the same boat. i am an entrepreneur and i want to open another bar and not got